I took an unusual route to get there — I'm not an IT professional; I have never even taken a course in computer science — but Linux has been my primary desktop operating system since 1995. I love it.

I'm a sports fan(atic) too.

I played basketball, touch and flag football, tennis and golf and I love the thrilling beauty of the Appalachians. I've climbed Mount Washington (in the White Mountains of New Hampshire) several times and by several trails, enjoy hiking and camping in western Maryland, the eastern panhandle of West Virginia and the Great Smoky Mountains of western North Carolina, as well as whitewater rafting on the Cheat (near Albright, W. Va.) and the Youghiogheny (the "Yough," near Ohiopyle, Pennsylvania). And, seeing as how I've lived in the Washington, D.C., area all of my life, I'm devoted to the Redskins [our professional football team].

But most of all, I love baseball. IMHO, it is, simply, the most marvelous sport ever devised. Just recently (in the summer of 1997), after years of promises (to myself), I made the drive to Cooperstown, New York, to see the Baseball Hall of Fame. I did it alone and I'm glad, because I would not have wanted to try to explain to anyone else all of those tears streaming down my face.

This is another place which always makes me weep:

And here are a few sites about some folks who always make me smile:

The Republic of Pemberley: Jane Austen left for us six novels — four published in her all too brief lifetime — filled with wisdom and warmth and humor and passion and unforgettable characters.

RayCharles.com: Ray Charles taught me how to play the piano. From the first moment I heard "Hallelujah! I Love Her So," probably around 1955, I knew this was what music was supposed to be and proceeded to spend endless hours making certain that I could play every riff he played on every single one of his Atlantic recordings. On the day he passed my brother and my sister each called to ask if I was okay. I was. Sorta.

The Gilbert and Sullivan Archive: It seems impossible that our laughter is as raucous a hundred and twenty-five years after the premiere of H. M. S. Pinafore as ever. W[illiam] S[chwenck] Gilbert was surely the greatest comic librettists to write in English.

Lorenz Hart: Far and away my favorite lyricist. His words to "My Funny Valentine," my personal favorite "Spring Is Here" and at least two dozen other Rodgers and Hart songs are in a class by themselves. Only Mr. Hart could be so witty and so poignant at the same moment.

Gene Kelly: An American Life: Gene Kelly is who I wanted to be when I grew up. An American in Paris is one of my favorite films, but my glee at first seeing him dance with Jerry (the mouse of the Tom and Jerry cartoons) in Anchors Aweigh was boundless and I adore the scene where he sings "Singin' in the Rain" (in the movie of the same name).

Toonopedia: The Far Side: Like what must certainly have been half of all American refrigerators, mine was decorated with panels from Gary Larson's The Far Side for most of the duration of its all too brief run.

Maya Linwas a twenty-one-year-old college undergraduate when she was awarded the commission for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. I find everything about her amazing.

Aaron McGruder: Nobody has ever been able to piss me off the way Aaron McGruder pisses me off. But, then, nobody has ever been able to make me laugh the way Aaron McGruder makes me laugh. I s'pose it's a good trade. Now all I can say is: Please, Mr. McGruder, we want more!

Pooh Corner: I've only directed three plays in my life. One was A(lan) A. Milne's one-act "The Ugly Duckling."

Rosa Parks: An unknown 42-year-old from Montgomery, Alabama, Rosa Louise McCauley Parks, outraged and defiant following the recent murder of Emmett Till, helped to change forever the United States of America.

Andy Razaf: Never heard of him? I am embarrassed to admit that neither had I till very recently, but we both know "Honeysuckle Rose," "Memories of You," "Ain't Misbehavin'," "Gee, Baby, Ain't I good to You," and "(What Did I Do to Be So) Black and Blue." And Andy Razaf wrote the wonderful lyrics to each of these and many other standards.

Jackie Robinson's baseball career was a powerful and straightforward statement putting a lie to all racist rubbish. Besides, he was the most exciting ballplayer I have ever seen.

Mister Rogers' Neighborhood: Mister (Fred McFeely) Rogers was a most welcome guest in our home throughout the years when our children were young.

Oh, by the way, here I am — front row, center — while at Camp Takajo, Naples, Maine, in the Summer of 1950.

Much to my amazement a little over twenty years ago I started writing songs.

I had performed other people's music since I was a youngster. (I was hired for my first gig when I was in eighth grade. I was paid in Coca Colas and a free admission.) But creating my own songs came as quite a surprise. Now I'm a member of ASCAP and my first CD was released about a year ago.

I love LibraryThing.

My "baby" brother, Bob, is was is back on the World Wide Web big style.

He is certainly the most gifted and fascinating person I know and his site is was, not surprisingly, entertaining and chock full of stuph guaranteed to appeal to anyone who reads, uses 'puters or just enjoys being human in the early years of the Twenty-first Century. So is his new blog!